Technical show me your body mounts

Getting real close to making the body mounts to put my '29 roadster on a Kiwi connection pinched 32 frame, so I am looking for different ideas on how to mount it. show me the mounts you made , or how you mounted the model A body to a 32 frame. I have a few ideas, but am interested in others ideas, and how to's. any suggestions or ideas appreciated. Thanks,--Jim

 

The wider '32 frame will require bolting it through the subrails [front to back] and not the cross rails [left to right] as stock... you will need to cut some hardwood blocks to the hight and width of the "gap" under the subrails... I make them a little longer than needed in case there is a rivet in the way...
fit them, bolt her down, shim to align the beltlines, run some wood screws through the metal and into the blocks so they will stay where you want them if you pull the body off again... HIH...

 

I am in the process of making body mounts for the Arin Cee Roadster at this point in time as well, and have discovered that there are many options for getting the job done, depending largely on what's going on with the rest of the car. Unlike "sloppy jalopies" suggestion, I'm using all the stock Model A body mount locations by utilizing the existing and/or added crossmembers as anchors.

One thing to keep in mind is that you'll need to add at least one new crossmember to anchor your seat belts, which can be engineered to serve as a mid-car body mount as well. And since the front and rear main body bolts line up with the '32 frame, that leaves you only two on each side (plus the one at the front of the cowl) to worry about.

Before you begin making your body mounts you will also have to decide whether or not you will section the front part of your cowl to allow the body to sit lower on the frame and thus eliminate the need for the gap-filler along the sides. Be aware that this decision will also have the unintended consequence of changing the cowl-to-radiator shell alignment, which is a whole issue in and of itself.

Your post is an excellent one which many builders just take for granted...until they get into it and find out it just isn't as simple as they thought. Follow my build thread to see how I'm approaching the process on Arin's car which has bobbed rear frame horns, a Deuce Factory tubular X-member and a dropped nose. The way I approach it may not be for everybody but it's working for me. Good luck!

 

IMO... do not add a crossmember for seatbelts as they should mount to the body... in a bad crash you want to stay with the body... you don't want the body to separate from the frame and the seatbelts not... I could cut you in half... IMO...

 

NHRA Rule Book: Driver Restraint Systems A quick-release, 3-inch shoulder harness meeting SFI Spec 16.1, including crotch strap, is mandatory in all cars in competition required by the rules to have a roll bar or a roll cage. Driver restraint system must be clearly labeled as meeting SFI Spec 16.1 and be dated by manufacturer. System must be updated at two-year intervals from date of manufacture. All seat belt and shoulder harness installations must be mutually compatible, originally designed to be used with each other, and produced by the same manufacturer. Cars using OEM or OEM type seat may route crotch strap in front of seat instead of through seat. Only those units that release all five attachment points in one motion are permitted. When arm restraints are worn with a restraint system that utilizes a "latch lever", a protective cover must be installed to prevent arm restraint from accidentally releasing the latch lever. Protective cover not needed if system uses "duckbill" latch hardware. All harness sections must be mounted to the frame, cross member, or reinforced mounting, and installed to limit driver's body travel both upward and forward. Seat belts may not be wrapped around lower frame rails. Under no circumstances are bolts inserted through belt webbing permitted for mounting. Check manufacturer’s instructions.

Source: http://i29dragway.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Basic-NHRA-Safety-Rules.pdf

 

Thank you for the information, I saw your build, and am still reading, have not got to the body mounting yet.

 

I welded a number of tabs to the inner frame rails and used wood blocks for my 31coupe on 32 rails. I'll have to get some photos.

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31Apickup, It would be great if you could post some pictures. did you use any welting or anything between the body and the frame? this is my first time building a hot rod from the ground up, so I am not sure about some things, and have to go by what I can find on the web. I am not completely clueless, but it does not hurt to see what others have done, so as not to make some mistakes that I will regret and have to correct later.

 

I found a 3" x .125" x 10' section of canvas belt from some old machine, cut it into squares and punch a 1/2" hole through it... memory says '33-'34 ran canvas...

 

Years ago,when I had split or rotted donnuts,I'd make new mounts from old tires. But now ya can buy them as repops. How ever being I don't use my bodys stock floors anyway any more,and use a 3/4 XT plywood floor,just run 1/4in. rubber strip an bolt to tab I make.

 

So here is what I did, should to do a build thread. I'm building a 31 coupe on a pinched 32 frame with the chassis engineering x-member.

I built my own rear sub-rails out of 14 ga.

Did the 3/4" front channel

Welded in a tab at the rear cross-member, part way up to the X-member and another further up under the forward most body cross-member.

Here's the one under the front body cross-member.

This at the 2nd body cross-member
This is at the rear cross-member. I added another body Cross-member here.

I still need to finish welding the mounts once I take the body off. I made up wood mounting blocks and squared up the body and doors. I will most likely use a welting of some sort for anti-squeak.

 

Thank you for those pictures they are a great help. my brother and I were thinking about this type of mount. we used a steadfast kit for the rear sub-rails. it is a pretty nice kit, and saved us some time, as this is our first Model A build. I have a Kiwi Konnection frame that is pinched for the model a body. we are not planning to channel the front as you have. at least not yet, we are not quite that far. we did add an extra body cross member to the sub rails, a bit before the kick up to help with the fuel tank mounting. the tank will be in the trunk. we will build a "firewall" between the seat and the trunk compartment. we are making the floor panels for the rear half of the body, from the doors back right now. have to figure out a pattern and size to roll some beads into the panels for some extra strength. there are some pictures in my thread "tire sizes" , but they do not show a lot. I have some pictures on the camera, but have not loaded them on the computer yet. may add another crossmember to the frame for seatbelt mounts, not sure may just use one of the body sub-rail crossmembers.

 

I have another body crossmember to add yet. I don't think it is typical to do the small channel on a 28-29.

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The "small channel" at the front of the cowl opens up a can of worms that you may not want to deal with. The problem in a nutshell is that once the cowl has been lowered - even a half inch or so - it becomes noticeably lower than the radiator shell which, due to the upward "sweep" of the Deuce frame, is already too high. This is not a real issue if you're not going to run a hood, but if a hood is in your future it will run uphill unless you section the radiator. Proportionally a hood that runs uphill - even a little bit - is bad karma. And once you've seen it you can't un-see it...

I plan to finish up the body mounts on the Arin Cee Roadster today and will post photos as soon as I can. It's coooooooold out in the shop this morning!

 

I went through the subrails on mine( from Riley auto)did the wood as mentioned. And where I went through the double steel of the subrails I welded in a piece of pipe for reinforcement to keep the bolts from crushing it.
I also did the 3/4” channel on the entire subfloor.
Recognize the body Jim?
Sorry about the flipped photos.


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I finally got the body mounts on the Arin Cee Roadster done. See post # 196 of my build thread to see how I did mine. I'm pleased with the way it turned out. Good luck with yours.

 

yes, my brother wishes he had not sold it, but he needed the money at the time. He has a pretty rough 30-31 coupe body now ,that is going to need a lot of repair, but it is better than nothing

 

Thanks, I will get back to reading. we are taking a brake from my project, and my brother is working on his chassis to get caught up to where we are on my build. that way we can go back and forth on them side by side

 

I have a 28 ford coupe I built on a kiwikonnection 32 style pinched frame. The frame came with a number of threaded inserts in it set up for a 32 body. These made for 6 of the 10 mounting points.

I positioned the 28 body (with steadfast arch rails) on the frame, centered the rear wheel opening with the axle and found the front body mount holes under the cowl nearly lined up with a couple of the threaded inserts on the frame. I redrilled the mount holes on the foot to match the frame and dropped a bolt in through the 28 wood.

The next two pair of bolts went through the existing model a holes in the two crossmembers. I fashioned two pair of mounts similar to those shown in 31Apickup's 4th photo and welded them to the inside of the frame.

The next two pair go through the steadfast pieces. Above where the new and old sub rail pieces are welded together is the flat/tapered piece of steel that fits on top. Beneath all that are threaded inserts. I drill, from below, through the sub rails to get access to the threaded holes from above. A tubular insert & flat washer should be used here so the sub rail doesn't start to deform when the bolt is tightened.

A few inches forward of the trunk rear panel are another pair of the threaded inserts on the frame. No big here to attach the body the same way as was done for the previous mounts.

 

Also forgot to mention, I pinched the frame(see photos) front and rear to form to the shape of the body. All body mount holes went through frame center(top section) with the exception of the very front ones. They were close to edge, so I welded on half round protrusions to run bolts through.


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Thanks , This is what I was looking at, but not as many seem to line up. this info helps.

 

Here is what I used with a 26 model T body onto a 32 frame.
I also made rectangular tube spacers kinder sculptured to replace the wood under the sub frame.
There is one showing in the 2nd pic.
I also have a center row of body mount bolts that pickup hold points for my seats, seat belts and hand brake.
There were a few rivet head and other stuff to clear... .

 

nice frame, good looking work.

 

I mounted the 1927 Coupe body to the 1928-29 frame.